49–006 

113TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 113–694 

PROTECTING STATES, OPENING NATIONAL PARKS ACT 

DECEMBER 22, 2014.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, from the Committee on Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

together with 

DISSENTING VIEWS 

[To accompany H.R. 3286] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 3286) to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to reimburse 

States that use State funds to operate National Parks during the 

Federal Government shutdown, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and 

recommend that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 3286 is to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to reimburse States that use State funds to operate National 

Parks during the Federal Government shutdown. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

Upon the lapse of federal appropriations in October 2013, the 

National Park Service quickly and enthusiastically closed the doors 

and gates to the 401 park units. Several states immediately put 

forward offers to fund continued operations at key National Parks. 

Those offers were rejected for unspecified reasons, and the Park 

Service chose to keep visitors out. 

After continued pressure, the National Park Service agreed to receive ‘‘donations’’ that would open parks back up to the public. Arizona, Colorado, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah enVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:12 Jan 08, 2015 Jkt 049006 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR694.XXX HR694

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tered into agreements that funded select parks in their states at 

pre-closure levels, but provided no guarantee of reimbursement. 

This appears to be contrary to agreements reached during the 

1995–96 lapse in appropriations. Specifically, the State of Arizona 

funded the Grand Canyon National Park at a modest level, just 

enough to keep the gates open and services in operation. The demand made for full funding by the Park Service in 2014 made it 

more difficult for states to contribute and open up the National 

Parks. 

Because of the short duration between the funding agreements 

with the states and the resolution of the appropriations process, 

the federal government only spent approximately 2 million third 

party dollars. However, it is unclear what National Park Service 

has done, or intends to do with the windfall of cash it received from 

Congress, having cashed the checks from the states and accepted 

backfilled appropriations. 

H.R. 3286 directs the Secretary of the Treasury to reimburse 

states for costs associated with maintaining National Parks in 

operational status during the lapse of appropriations during fiscal 

year 2014. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 3286 was introduced on October 11, 2013, by Congressman 

Steve Daines (R–MT). The bill was referred to the Committee on 

Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee 

on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation. On November 21, 

2013, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On December 

4, 2013, the Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. 

The Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation 

was discharged by unanimous consent. No amendments were offered and the bill was adopted and ordered favorably reported to 

the House of Representatives by voice vote. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B) of that rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office: 


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H.R. 3286—Protecting States, Opening National Parks Act 

H.R. 3286 would direct the Secretary of the Treasury to reimburse states for funds they donated to the Federal Government to 

operate certain national park units during the period of lapsed appropriations that occurred from October 1, 2013, to October 14, 

2013. Governors of six states (Arizona, Colorado, New York, South 

Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah) signed agreements with the Department of the Interior (DOI) to donate about $3.6 million to operate 

13 national park units. When the appropriations for the National 

Park Service were enacted on October 17, 2013, about $1.6 million 

of the unspent donations were returned to the states. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3286 would result in spending of about 

$2 million—an amount equivalent to the states’ donations that 

were spent to operate national park units during that period. 

Enacting H.R. 3286 would increase direct spending by $2 million 

in 2014; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Enacting H.R. 

3286 would not impact revenues. 

The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement procedures for legislation affecting direct 

spending or revenues. The net changes in outlays that are subject 

to those pay-as-you-go procedures are shown in the following table. 

CBO ESTIMATE OF PAY-AS-YOU-GO EFFECTS FOR H.R. 3286 AS ORDERED REPORTED BY THE 

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES ON DECEMBER 4, 2013 

By fiscal year, in millions of dollars— 

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2014– 

2018 

2014– 

2023 

NET INCREASE IN THE DEFICIT 

Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Impact ............... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 

H.R. 3286 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. Six states 

would benefit from reimbursement of operating expenses for some 

national parks if this bill is enacted. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Martin von Gnechten. 

The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

2. Section 308(a) of Congressional Budget Act. As required by 

clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, 

this bill does not contain any new budget authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. Enacting H.R. 3286 would increase direct spending by $2 million in 

2014. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 

of this bill is to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to reimburse 

States that use State funds to operate National Parks during the 

Federal Government shutdown. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined under clause 9(e), 


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9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5

Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that this 

bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any specific 

rule-making proceedings. 

Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not establish or 

reauthorize a program of the Federal Government known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was not included in 

any report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress 

pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111–139 or identified in the 

most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program Information Act (Public Law 95–220, 

as amended by Public Law 98–169) as relating to other programs. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing law. 


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DISSENTING VIEWS 

H.R. 3286: PROTECTING STATES, OPENING NATIONAL PARKS ACT

As part of their endless, futile attacks on the Affordable Care 

Act, House Republicans instigated a 16-day federal government 

shut-down in October of last year. As a result of this intentional 

lapse in federal funding, the National Park Service (NPS) was required to close all 401 units of the National Park System and furlough more than 20,000 employees. 

Shuttering national parks comes at a price. According to a 2011 

peer-reviewed report, visitors to parks generated $30.1 billion in 

economic activity and supported 252,000 jobs nationwide. This is 

comparable to some of the most profitable Fortune 500 corporations. 

At many of the nation’s most popular parks, like Grand Canyon 

in Arizona and Acadia in Maine, October in particular is a profitable time for area communities. More than 715,000 people visit national parks per day in October, spending about $76 million in 

nearby communities. 

The National Park Service is authorized to accept donations and 

several Governors petitioned the Secretary of the Interior for permission to donate state funds to reopen national parks in their 

states. Ultimately, five states signed such agreements: 

• New York—$369,300 to reopen the Statue of Liberty from October 13 to 17. 

• Arizona—$651,000 to reopen Grand Canyon National Park for 

a week beginning October 13. 

• South Dakota—$152,000 to reopen Mount Rushmore National 

Memorial starting October 14. 

• Utah—$1,665,720.80 to reopen eight sites starting October 11. 

• Colorado—$362,700 to reopen Rocky Mountain National Park 

starting October 11. 

The agreements specified that these funds were donations. Once 

the shutdown ended, NPS returned all unexpended state funds, but 

the agency is prohibited by law from using appropriated dollars to 

repay the states for their donations. 

H.R. 3286 would require the federal government to pay states for 

any ‘‘activity conducted in fiscal year 2014 during a time when the 

Federal Government was not conducting that activity due to the 

partial shutdown of the Federal Government’’ if ‘‘the activity was 

necessary to operate and open to the public a National Park located, in whole or in part, within the State.’’ 

According to the Congressional Budget Office, this legislation 

would result in approximately $2 million in direct spending and the 

bill includes no offset for this expenditure. 

Increasing the deficit by $2 million cannot be justified in this 

case. These five states donated this funding because their local 


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economies stood to profit more from reopening national parks than 

the cost of the donation; they are not ‘‘owed’’ reimbursement. 

The Majority’s sudden realization that national parks are good 

investments is welcome and contrasts with Republican budgets 

which have slashed NPS funding by 13% over the last three years. 

In the future, if House Republicans want to avoid states having to 

pony up to keep national parks open, the solution is simple: don’t 

shut down the government. 

PETER DEFAZIO, Ranking Member, Committee 

on Natural Resources. 

RAU ́ L GRIJALVA, 

Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Public Lands 

and Environmental Regulations. 

Æ 


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